Nobody wants to actually solve problems any more. They all want to “raise awareness” and become mini-celebrities at the same time. I suspect it’s more about the notoriety and the appearance of doing something that is attractive. In our social media obsessed world, it’s much more important to look like a good person than to actually be one.
If someone actually knows Kiran, can you pass a message along to her for me? That would be great. Thank you.
Kiran, (I’m assuming that since I’ve seen your period that we’re on a first name basis)
Can I just talk to you a moment, ex-marathon-runner to marathon-runner? You seem like a nice person. (Actually, that’s not true, you seem like a nutcase, but your family loves you enough to turn out to cheer you on as you ran the marathon. They even has special t-shirts made. That has to count for something, right?)
Can you walk me through that moment when “oh crap, I’m starting my period the night before my race” became “F it all! I’m gonna let that sucker flow!” for me?
Because it doesn’t seem like “raising awareness” was your first thought. According to what you’ve said, your first thought was “I don’t want to have to figure out running 26.2 miles with a tampon.” I don’t know what brand you’re using, but – A) maybe you need a new brand, or B) you might want to look into menstrual cups. (If I can run, lift weights, and box jump at an all day CrossFit competition with one in place, it will work for marathons. Trust me.)
It kinda seems like at some point during your warm-up or while you were pounding out all of those miles (which is a lot of time to think these things through) you decided to turn your personal un-hygienic decision into a Fight for Woman-kind!
Yes, the stigma attached to menstruation is a huge problem for Third World girls and women. The same way that amoebic dysentery and respiratory infections are huge problems for poor people all over the world. But, honey, we don’t go around with poop running down our legs or snot dripping down our faces in order to help those people. How does sitting (or in your case running) in your own filth help them?
I mean help them in a concrete and practical way, because creating a media circus about a problem without telling people how to help is just grandstanding narcissism. In other words, you let your period blood run down your legs while you ran, exposing yourself to I-don’t-know-what-kind-of-infection, and for what? So that millions of people around the world could click on your picture and stare at your crotch?
That’s pretty much the definition of un-helpful.
While you go and take a shower (please, please, please take a shower), I’m going to fix this whole mess for you. How’s that for a deal? Good.
Dear Blog Readers,
While Ms Gandhi was repulsive in her approach to getting us to help the women of the Third World, she was right that they do need help. The truth is that menstruation can be an insurmountable hurdle to education and employment when poverty is so dire that tampons and pads are a luxury.
Instead of walking around bleeding in public, let’s do something real about this. Days for Girls is a charity that provides Feminine Hygiene kits to women in 75 countries around the world. Go check out their website and learn how you can help through donating money, helping to sew the kits, or distributing them to impoverished communities (which may be closer to you than you think.)
Providing a girl with safe, clean, re-useable methods for managing their periods could help change their lives. We take these things for granted, but they really are an incredible luxury to many women on Earth.
As for Ms Gandhi, if anyone has her address, I’d be happy to send her a Diva Cup so that she’s ready for her next race.
A personal hygiene kit from Days for Girls
Photo credits-
menstrual cup By Ruby Cup (http://www.ruby-cup.com/) [CC BY-SA 3.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0)], via Wikimedia Commons
Personal hygeine kit from Days for Girls (now go donate to them)
Shoved to Them
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